The House I Live In performed by Josh White There is a song most people know from Frank Sinatra. But Sinatra was not the first to record it. Called “The House I Live In”, it is a song about a promise — that the people who built this country, who cleaned its floors and worked […]
The History Is The Room
PART ONE: That Is Not What The Historical Record Says I have sat quietly — more or less, but mostly more (really, ask around) — in Newburgh City Council meetings for seven years. I have watched budget presentations that obscured more than they revealed. I have listened to city managers explain away FOIL non-responses with […]
What They Call Good Government
How Progressive Reform Created the Conditions for Special Interest Capture in an American City PART 5: NEWBURGH IS AMERICA The five incidents documented in Parts 3 and 4 span sixty years and involve different people, different politics, and different circumstances. A housing crisis. A welfare crackdown. A demolition campaign. A partisan installation. A waterfront sabotage. […]
What They Called Good Government
How Progressive Reform Created the Conditions for Special Interest Capture in an American City PART 4: WHAT THE STRUCTURE PRODUCED The 1917 charter put in place a mayor and four at large council members, with a city manager. Since the mayor was largely ceremonial, this was basically five at large councilmembers. Every two years, either […]
What They Call Good Government
How Progressive Reform Leads to Council-Manager Government Silos Power Away From Electoral Accountability PART 3: WHAT THE STRUCTURE DOES – OR DOESN’T – DO The Kenney Apartments sit at 55 Walsh Road in Newburgh. More than one hundred low-income families and seniors live there. Since 2023, they have not had reliable heat or hot water. […]
New York’s Housing Rebels Who Just Wouldn’t Leave
A Brief History of the Loft Tenant Struggle in New York City, the parallel Squatters Movement, and the lessons they hold for City of Newburgh tenants. 1960 – 2000 The loft tenants movement is one of the most consequential and most untold organizing stories in New York City history — a decades-long campaign by artists […]
Read More… from New York’s Housing Rebels Who Just Wouldn’t Leave
What They Call Good Government
How Progressive Reform Created the Conditions for Special Interest Capture in one American City PART 2: REVOLUTION OR REFORM New Yorkers have made a lot of news of late for putting a socialist — Zohran Mamdani — in charge of the city known as the capital of capitalism. One hundred years ago, socialism was less […]
Two Crises, A City Manager, One Way Forward
Note to reader: This is long, and I apologize. Usually, for an essay of this depth, a magazine will have an editor, a copy editor, a researcher, a fact checker and a lawyer supporting me. I really need that editor! But for now, I am one guy, writing within 48 hours for a deadline: the […]
What They Call Good Government
How Progressive Reform Created the Conditions for Special Interest Capture in one American City PART 1: ADMINISTERING COVER Prologue In May 2021, the Newburgh City Council faced an unusual demand. Todd Venning, their City Comptroller, wanted City Manager Joseph Donat’s job. He also wanted a $50,000 raise. And if the council said no, he would […]
The Man Who Stayed For The Show
His mom was seated in the front row. Representatives from Senators Schumer’s and Gillibrand’s offices sat behind them. So too were officials from state, county and municipal levels, as well as executives from the business and non-profit sectors. It must have been several dozen in all, who had driven up to an hour or more […]
